Native Lights is a weekly, half-hour radio program hosted by Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members and siblings, Leah Lemm and Cole Premo. Native Lights is a space for people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce — a.k.a. Minnesota — to tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community.
Melissa Blind is Cree from George Gordon’s First Nation in Saskatchewan. She earned her PhD in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona. Melissa has over a decade of experience working with Indigenous communities in Indigenous health and dementia research.
As the current Senior Research Associate on the Memory Keepers Medical Discovery Team at the University of Minnesota, Duluth campus, Melissa is focused on collaborative research to improve dementia outcomes in Indigenous and rural communities.
Subscribe to Native Lights wherever you get your podcasts
More from Native Lights
- Karen Diver: Championing Indigenous ExcellenceKaren Diver is currently serving as the inaugural Senior Advisor to the President for Native American Affairs at the University of Minnesota. In addition to previous roles in higher education, Karen was also an appointee of President Obama as the Special Assistant to the President for Native American Affairs. As part of the Domestic Policy Council from …
- Brandon Baity: Executive Director of the Indigenous AssociationBrandon Baity is Anishinaabe and a descendant of the White Earth Nation. He grew up in Brooklyn Park, MN and currently lives in Moorhead, MN with his 3 children, partner, and mother-in-law. He graduated with a degree in social work from the College of Saint Scholastica in 2013. After graduation he worked as a youth …
- Bryce Premo: Exploring Social Work FrontiersBryce Premo is a Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe citizen and brother of Native Lights hosts Leah Lemm and Cole Premo. Bryce on the cusp of an exciting transition in his career. With a bachelor’s degree in social work almost under his belt and poised to pursue a master’s degree in the same field, Bryce …